X-Club #2 Review

They do science!

Our own Poet Mase reviewed issue #1 of this series and gave it a scathing 4.5 out of 10 review. Yet where he saw condescension, I saw comedy; where he saw failed characters, I saw exciting development; and where he would recommend skipping this title, I would say it's one you shouldn't miss. A mutagenic ecological disaster has Atlanteans exploding out of their skin, and if that's not bad enough, Danger has gone haywire and is attacking Utopia. It sounds like a job for the X-Club because, well, they do science!

The book is bristling with style and deft characterization. Dr. Rao, Madison Jeffries, Danger, and Dr. Nemesis all have wildly different personalities, and watching them argue, belittle, and chastise each other makes for a hilarious read. The debut issue had some good laughs, but when Dr. Nemesis gets a psychic starfish stuck to his head at the start of this issue, it's enough to keep you in stitches until the final page. What could be worse (or funnier) for an egomaniac than having his innermost vulnerable thoughts broadcast aloud by a starfish?

Paul Davidson's excellent pencils help sell the humor with spot-on facial expressions and reaction shots. Being an X-Men book, this series is not without a sense of wonder: as Dr. Nemesis descends to the ocean depths to discover the source of the contamination, what he discovers changes him in strange and beautiful and horrendous ways. It is a mesmerizing and memorable trip that only adds to the charm of this superb new X-title.